Sonic : Phantoms
by Firestorm185
Summary: In the aftermath of Sonic Forces, Dr. Robotnik deals with the guilt caused by Infinite's defeat. But what will become of the crippled Jackal? How will Mobius recover from the war against Dr. Robotnik? What really is the Phantom Ruby? All the answers lie... beyond the gate. Credit to JaysonJeanChannel for the sonic pose in the title card!


**Sonic : Phantoms**

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first sonic Fanfic! This story will be piecing together the lore of the Sonic franchise, pulling from all different directions to pad out Sonic's world building and continue the story of Forces. I was inspired by a video on youtube which talked about how much content SEGA has to pull from to make their games truly spectacular, but how little of that content is ever seen because of time constraints and market pressures. I want to try and help make Sonic's Universe a more concrete reality if I can. I hope you enjoy!

_**Chapter 1: Phantom Pain**_

Amid a shattered plain filled with endless egg pawns and the shattered remains of virtual realities, droves of mobians celebrate a victory over Robotnik as fireworks fill the skies and the dust of the Phantom Ruby finally settles and the fires of burning robots fills the sky.

Sonic had won again. Mobius was free once more.

. .

A gloved hand slowly traces a wall filled with diagrams and papers slotted in with pins and wires. A faint, red glow pervades the dimly lit room. Another gloved hand clutches a gem in it's fist.

"DARN IT ALL!" Robotnik slams his fist into his wall of plans, the thud scattering papers throughout the room.

"Every time with that hedgehog. He's always two, three, or a million steps ahead of me. Even when I have him captured, my plans never come to fruition because of him."

He clenches his fist, the light of the red chaos emerald sneaking out of the seams between his fingers.

"And you." He says, his fist scraping down the wall. "You called that a fight? What was the Phantom ruby to you? An excuse to look powerful." Eggman spun around and furiously pointed a finger at a medical tank across from him.

"You weakling! If I hadn't have had this Emerald on hand you would have been dea…" Robotnik stopped mid sentence as he got his first good look at his patient.

Infinite, crippled, almost consumed by the Ruby, floated in the tank across from him. Hooked up to life support, the Mobian could barely breathe, and could hardly be considered conscious. The defeat at the hands of Sonic had sent the Phantom Ruby haywire, causing it to consume Infinite's legs and half an arm, leaving him in constant, agonizing pain. Shards of the Ruby also entered Infinite's bloodstream, causing his veins to glow with the poison of the Phantom Ruby, causing even more pain. It was all Infinite could do to float in the tank awake.

For the first time in a long time, Robotnik felt a pang of guilt in his robotic heart for this poor, crippled Mobian. He hung his face, placing it in his empty hand and pressing on the bridge of his nose.

"Dang it. We might have had him, too. I had no idea the Phantom Ruby would have this sort of reverse effect on Mobians. I never should have listened to that Eggman."

Orbot, who had been picking up the papers scattered around the room until this point, noted the statement and was quite confused.

"Master Robotnik, isn't that what Sonic calls you? What could you possibly mean?" He spoke, visibly concerned for his master's well-being. "Are you sure you didn't get a Ruby Shard stuck in you too?"

"No, Orbot, I'm fine. The Doctor I'm speaking of is someone… different."

"Like the younger you we ran across, boss?" Orbot said.

"No. This Doctor was from another Dimension, entirely. The Dimension where I first learned about the Phantom Ruby."

. .

After we failed to control the Zeti on the Hex, I tried to use the Egg Robo to finish off Sonic. However, his speed outmatched the speed of my mech 5 to 1. I was easily defeated, even with the life force of the planet in my grasp.

However, I managed to hit Sonic once during our battle, and he dropped something. Something gold and glimmering. At the time I was too preoccupied to notice ,but the glint stuck in my brain throughout the rest of the fight, distracting me.

After my defeat, Sonic quickly returned to his own world, but I wasn't quite as quick to leave the Hex. After all, there was much more to study about the surrounding wildlife. Nature there hadn't been subdued like I wished, but I could still learn more from the inhabitants.

I spent several weeks on the Hex after Sonic's departure. Deep in study. Walking through the landscapes of the Hex. Looking for any hints to it's mysterious gravity, but to no avail.

And it was then that I stumbled across it:

A ring. A golden ring. Lying near where I dealt the only blow to Sonic in my fight against him. Shining, as if calling to me.


End file.
